Recent Burned Watershed Hazard Assessments

A large smoke column rises thousands of feet above chaparral-covered mountains.
Smoke column above the 2020 Lake Fire. Photo credit: Austin Dave.

California Watershed Emergency Response Teams (WERTs) help communities prepare after wildfire by rapidly documenting and communicating post-fire risks to life and property posed by debris flow, flood, and rock fall hazards. The WERT response is led by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) and the California Geological Survey (Department of Conservation). To learn how the CGS works with CAL FIRE and others to analyze landslide potential on newly burned landscapes, visit the CalConservation blog: Notes from the Field.

Requests for WERT report information should be directed to CAL FIRE. (CAL FIRE by default provides WERT evaluation reports and maps to affected communities, flood control managers, and emergency managers.)

2022 WERT Response

Updated August 9, 2023

In 2022, CAL FIRE and the California Geological Survey deployed WERTs to the following major burns located in state responsibility areas:

Colorado Fire

Map of the burn area.

Fairview Fire

Map of the burn area.

McKinney Fire

Map of the burn area.

Mosquito Fire

Map of the burn area.

Mountain Fire

Map of the burn area.

Oak Fire

Map of the burn area.

2021 WERT Response

Updated August 9, 2023

Enhanced landslide hazards continue to exist in the 2021 wildfire areas. A typical watershed recovery period after fire is two to five years; but in some areas it can take up to ten years as trees die and roots decay. Please keep this in mind and plan accordingly.

Alisal Fire

Map of the burn area.

Caldor Fire

Map of the burn area.

Dixie Fire

Map of the burn area.

French Fire

Map of the burn area.

2020 WERT Response

Updated August 9, 2023

Enhanced landslide hazards continue to exist in the 2020 wildfire areas. A typical watershed recovery period after fire is two to five years; but in some areas it can take up to ten years as trees die and roots decay. Please keep this in mind and plan accordingly.

Apple and El Dorado Fires

Map of the burn area.

Blue Ridge Fire

Map of the burn area.

Bond and Silverado Fires

Map of the burn area.

Carmel Fire

Map of the burn area.

Creek Fire

Map of the burn area.

CZU Lightning Complex

Map of the burn area.

Glass Fire

Map of the burn area.

LNU Lightning Complex - Hennessy Fire

Map of the burn area.

LNU Lightning Complex - Walbridge and Meyers Fires

Map of the burn area.

North Complex

Map of the burn area.

River Fire

Map of the burn area.

SCU Lightning Complex

Map of the burn area.

Snow Fire

Map of the burn area.

Images from the Field

Select any photo to open it full size in a new window.

David Longstreth, senior engineering geologist, was one of many in the field assessing post-fire geohazards in the Santa Cruz area after the 2020 CZU Lightning Complex:


Web page by:
California Geological Survey - Burned Watershed Geohazards Program

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